Wireless Personal Area Networks (WPANs) have been increasingly gaining popularity because of the flexibility and convenience these networks provide. WPAN systems, such as those based on Bluetooth (BT) technology, may be used in a variety of peripheral devices, mobile terminals, etc. by providing short distance wireless links that allow connectivity within a short (e.g., 10 meters) range.
Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs) have also been increasingly gaining popularity for providing wireless connectivity to devices that are located within a relatively larger geographical area, such as the area covered by a room, building, or a campus, for example. WLAN systems may be based on, for example, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 protocols, e.g., IEEE 802.11b protocol released on 1999, IEEE 802.11g protocol released on 2003, or any other appropriate IEEE 802.11 protocol. A WLAN may have a range of 100 meters, and may be utilized to supplement the communication capacity provided by a wired Local Area Network (LAN).
In some instances, it may be desirable to operate a WLAN system in conjunction with a WPAN system to provide users with an enhanced overall functionality. However, co-existence of BT and WLAN may create several challenges. For example, both BT and WLAN radio devices may operate in the 2.4 GHz (2.4000-2.4835 GHz) Industrial, Scientific, and Medical (ISM) unlicensed band, which may create several challenges for co-existence of BT and WLAN.
In other examples, a single device (e.g., a laptop, a cellular phone, etc.) may perform both WLAN and BT transactions. In such a situation not only does the problem of potential interference arise, but also due at least in part to the specifications (e.g., size and power consumption) of the device, WLAN and BT radio devices (e.g., transceivers) may be required to share one or more common antennas and/or common front end processors, which may create additional challenges.